Barnaby Rudge (Penguin Classics)

Dickens is one of my favourite authors, and I took up this book simply because I wanted to read all his books. "Barnaby Rudge", though is a little different than some of Dickens' other works. For one it's about a true historical happening. The riots of 1780 actually did occur. It's one of his shorter books, and it was written earlier on in his career. The book is really not where a reader should start with Dickens' books, but it should be read nonetheless. It still has the same great characterizations and atmosphere that we expect from Dickens, and it's still a good story. Barnaby is quite the character. We have to laugh at his antics, and Slow John at the Maypole Inn is absolutely wonderful. I read this book quite awhile ago, and while I'm writing this review, I'm thinking I need to reread it again. Wonderful atmosphere!

This is the last of all the Dickens's novels (including the five shorter Christmas Books) that I have either read or attempted. I had saved it until the last because it has not been held in very high esteem either by the critics or the reading public. I was pleasantly surprised.

Whereas there are several Dickens novels that I was unable to finish (namely, The Old Curiosity Shop, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, Little Dorrit, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and all the Christmas Books except A Christmas Carol), Barnaby Rudge never dragged even though it is one of Dickens's longer novels. Barnaby Rudge is as filled with memorable characters (especially the secondary ones - Miss Miggs, the Vardens, the Chesters, Hugh, Mr. Tappertitt, Dennis the hangman, etc.); places (the Maypole Inn, the locksmith's shop) and incident (the Gordon Riots) as any of his greater novels.

Stylistically, Barnaby Rudge is akin to Dickens's earlier picaresque novels (Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby). After those early successes of the 1830s, Dickens was struggling to find his mature style in my opinion. Most of the longer and shorter novels I was unable to finish come from the 1840s. (The Mystery of Edwin Drood is Dickens's last novel, but it was only half-finished at his death so it is really not fair to blame Dickens for my failure to respond to it.) Even though The Old Curiosity Shop comes between Nicholas Nickelby and Barnaby Rudge, Barnaby Rudge demonstrates all the strengths of Nicholas Nickelby and avoids the weaknesses of The Old Curiosity Shop. Barnaby Rudge is still early Dickens in my opinion.

G. K. Chesterton described a taste for early Dickens as similar to a taste for new potatoes as opposed to mature potatoes. Some people prefer new potatoes. Barnaby Rudge is not Dickens at his greatest. (I reserve that description for David Copperfield, Great Expectations and Bleak House. Along with the three novels of the 1830s already mentioned, I place Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities and Our Mutual Friend and now, Barnaby Rudge, on the second tier of Dickens's novels.) We must remember, that Dickens at his worst is better than most writers at their best. If Barnaby Rudge were a newly discovered work by an otherwise unknown author, or by one of Dickens's contemporaries, it would be hailed as a masterpiece. As it is, Barnaby Rudge is an eminently enjoyable and readable effort by a great writer.

Focused primarily on the "anti-popery" riots in London in1780, and filled with wild scenes of carnage involving a large cast of characters from all levels of society, Barnaby Rudge is Dickens's first historical novel, and it includes the real Lord George Gordon, a virulent anti-Catholic who whipped the populace into a frenzy. The author sets the scene for the tumult by first painting a picture of quiet village society in Chigwell in 1775, five years earlier, often using humor to depict the numerous characters.

Geoffrey Haredale, a Catholic, has inherited the estate of his brother Reuben, who was murdered twenty-two years before. He has brought up his niece Emma, who is in love with the kindly Edward Chester, a Protestant, the son of the odious Lord John Chester, who lives nearby. Dozens of characters populate the book--including Barnaby Rudge (the developmentally disabled son of Mary Rudge, who works on an estate), the Willetts (who run the Maypole Inn), Gabriel Varden (a locksmith) and his daughter Dolly (who eventually works for Emma Haredale), mysterious strangers, ghosts, a sinister blind man, and even Grip, Barnaby's talking raven.

The action takes off when the time shifts from 1775 to 1780, and the focus changes from village life and the sometimes amusing domestic concerns of the people to the growing anti-Catholic sentiment being stirred up in London. The humor, which has been a big part of the first part of the book, ends, and Dickens concentrates on the growing hatred and the battles spawned by that hatred, with good people being drawn into brutality that they would otherwise avoid. Violence and several deaths take place, the populace becomes a mob, and rioting leads to the burning of properties. The love stories, which have been a large part of the first section of the book, are put on the back burner for the major part of the book.

Written in 1841, this is Dickens's fifth novel, one which suffers from its original serialization and loss of focus. Though the atmosphere and some of the characters rank among Dickens's best, and some of the humor in the first part is delightful, the tone is inconsistent, changing with the riots and ensuing action. As is always the case with Dickens, all mysteries are cleared up at the end, with Reuben Haredale's murder solved and the whereabouts revealed of several characters who disappeared between 1775 and 1780. With hints of some of the greatness to come, this novel precedes David Copperfield, Bleak House, and A Tale of Two Cities, and shows Dickens experimenting with his themes and ideas. n Mary Whipple

This book is probably the most overlooked of Dickens' major efforts. It lacks the silly slapstick and joy of Pickwick Papers, and is missing the biting social commentary (at least not as biting) of Little Dorrit and Hard Times. Also, it is always listed in the "about the author" section as being somewhat of a commercial letdown at the time.
The truth is that it is a great book. It has enough silliness to let you know that it is Dickens, but is accompanied by a good bit of darkness. In fact, it's almost macabre at times.
In the end, this is a great story from a master storyteller. Isn't this the true benchmark of a classic? For all the ingenius stylism of "The Sound and the Fury" would we love it half as much (if at all) if the styling didn't accent a most captivating tale? Well, "Barnaby Rudge" is just that....a thoroughly captivating tale in the classic Dickens style.

Not one of Dickens well known titles. A dark story that lays the characters and their surroundings in great detail. Not the easiest of language to digest quickly but beautifully constructed and a story that keeps moving and makes the reader want to move along just to see who gets their well deserved come uppance. Not a summer beach read, more a winter's evening spread over a couple of weeks.

Admittedly a lesser known work by Dickens, I found it a great read. Sure, it's a bit slow in the early chapters, but what part of any Dickens work doesn't have its moments. The cast of characters is diverse, as usual, and bring different social circumstances to the Gordon Riots in 1780 England. The chapters devoted to the Riot itself are packed with action that kept me reading far past my normal quitting time. More importantly, Dickens paints a vivid picture of both religious persecution and the irrational and unpredictable quality of a widespread riot. With brief references to the War for Independence, the novel serves as a solid insight into some of the thinking that led our Founding Fathers to enshrine fundamental liberties in the Bill of Rights.

The academic review that precedes the novel is a waste of time for any reader for enjoyment and a perfect example of the horrid quality of writing in academia today. The reviewer needs to spend less time assembling critical comment and spend some time learning how to write like Dickens.

This is one of dickens lesser known works but it's one of his best. Once you get into the story the action never slows
I'm glad I chose as one of my bucket list items to read all of dickens major works. The penguin classic while paperback is a nice edition to have the scholarly notes help those new to dickens

I haven't read Dickens since I was a young man and am glad to have begun my reaquaintance by my first reading of Barnaby Rudge. As always, the characters are varied, and spring to life through Dickens's gifts for acute description and memorable dialogue. The plot threads are complex - some admittedly predictable, others full of suspense and surprise. What I appreciate most, however, is the action-packed, central section of the book with its vivid descriptions of the Gordon Riots: terrifying, out-of-control mob violence engendered by religious intollerance. Given the the disasterous effects of rigid religious fundamentalism (across all the major faiths) in the contemporary world, I found this aspect of the novel the most compelling. Add to that the character of the amoral, hypocritical politician Sir John Chester, and we have a work of fiction to remind us that there are lessons to be learned from history. With its relative brevity, compelling ncharacters, and page-turning action sequences, I highly recommend this novel to fans of the author and those new to his oeuvre.

Hard to believe this is Charles Dickens. This early work's plot's a mess. Blaming myself, I plowed on ½ way through on the promise of some evaluators that when it gets to the Protestant-Catholic riots it would all be worth it. Very disappointing.

The book is in excellent condition. It arrived early and was very well packaged. I'm very happy with my purchase.